Medical News Today: Fibromyalgia and chest pain: What is normal, symptoms, and treatment

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition. A person will often experience pain, tenderness, and stiffness in many muscles, connective tissues, bones, and joints. While symptoms differ among people, many report intense, sharp, or stabbing pain in the chest and ribcage.

When fibromyalgia causes inflammation of the cartilage that joins the upper ribs to the breastbone, it results in a condition called costochondritis.

The resulting pain may be confused with heart-related pain. As always, a correct diagnosis is essential.

In this article, we look at what kinds of chest pain are normally associated with fibromyalgia. We also describe treatment options.

Is it normal?

Fibromyalgia may cause pain throughout the body, including the chest.

People with fibromyalgia tend to have chronic pain, stiffness, and tenderness that radiates throughout the body. Although it was once considered a noninflammatory illness, research from 2017 suggests that fibromyalgia causes widespread inflammation that is not detected by routine blood tests.

If fibromyalgia-related inflammation affects the cartilage that connects the upper ribs to the breastbone, this can result in costochondritis.

Fibromyalgia can also cause inflammation, pain, stiffness, and muscle spasms anywhere in the chest.

What does fibromyalgia chest pain feel like?

When first experiencing costochondritis or painful or restrictive chest symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, many worry that something is wrong with their lungs or that they are having a heart attack.

People tend to describe the pain as:

stabbing

burning

aching

confined to one spot, usually in the very center of the chest, but it may radiate outward

Symptoms of fibromyalgia chest pain

The severity of symptoms will generally depend on the extent of inflammation. This is true for symptoms of costochondritis and chest-related fibromyalgia symptoms.

The pain described above may:

worsen with movement, deep breathing, or pressure

come and go

improve with shallow, steady breathing and rest

begin in one place and radiate outward, impacting a larger area

worsen when stretching, bending, or twisting

Pain caused by costochondritis may be felt either in the center of the chest or anywhere along the cartilage that runs between the sternum, or breastbone, and the ribs.

Causes

An infection or illness may cause additional chest pains in someone with fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia can cause chest pain when it affects the muscles, tendons, or ligaments in the area.

When fibromyalgia impacts the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum, it can cause costochondritis.

Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in joints. The cartilage that joins the ribs to the sternum allows the ribcage to expand during inhalation. Because of this, people with severe costochondritis may have difficulty or experience pain while taking deep breaths.

Symptoms of fibromyalgia may be provoked by changing levels of some neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that help the nerves to communicate.

People with fibromyalgia tend to have increased levels of neurotransmitters that communicate pain, such as glutamate and substance P. Alterations in levels of this substance seem to change how the brain understands pain.

Also, individuals with fibromyalgia often have lower levels of neurotransmitters that inhibit the communication of pain, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid.

These differences in neurotransmitter levels may indicate that people with fibromyalgia have exaggerated responses to pain. Or, it may mean that the brain mistakenly perceives normal sensations as pain.

Treatment

Doctors and researchers are still working to determine the best treatments for fibromyalgia. Each person responds to treatment differently.

Medical treatment

When chest pain is severe, long-lasting, disabling, or frequent, comprehensive treatment may be necessary.

The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have yet to specify any treatment for fibromyalgia, though the organization has approved certain medications for use in managing symptoms.

Outlook

Many people with fibromyalgia experience chest pain, usually where the ribs and the sternum connect, in the middle of the chest.

This pain tends to be harmless and often resolves with basic home care. However, people who experience severe, disabling, or frequent chest pain associated with fibromyalgia may require additional treatment and should speak with a doctor.

Seek emergency medical care if chest pains are not accompanied by other fibromyalgia symptoms, such as exhaustion and pain mirrored on both sides of the body.

Also, seek immediate care when chest pain occurs in areas that are not tender, or when the pain is accompanied by symptoms not related to fibromyalgia, such as coughing, fever, and heart palpitations.